Carmelo’s homecoming ruined with 111-96 loss to Porzingis-less Knicks

By the time the third overtime had begun in Philadelphia on Friday night, everyone knew that the Thunder would be running on fumes in the latter stages against the Knicks.

With Saturday night’s game coming on the second night of that tough back-to-back, it also happened to be the third game in four nights. In the end, even without Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks managed to ruin Carmelo Anthony’s homecoming by handing the Thunder a 111-96 defeat.

Porzingis and Steven Adams were each late scratches. Porzingis sat with a sore left knee after twisting it in the Knicks’ last game out against the Nets on Thursday. He warmed up and was a game time decision before the Knicks announced that he would not play.

As for Adams, he was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol after being diagnosed with one that was sustained during the first overtime of Friday night’s win at the Sixers.

In the end, the Knicks simply had too much fight and too much passion for the Thunder. They were led by 30 points from Michael Beasley, who started in place of Porzingis.

Beasley made headlines over the summer after stating that he could bring similar offensive prowess to the Knicks as Anthony, and played every bit like someone who wanted to prove the point. He shot 11-for-18 from the field. The Knicks also got 20 points from Courtney Lee and 13 points off the bench from Doug McDermott, the former Thunder.

As for the Thunder, the game seemed to begin on a positive note—Anthony scored the team’s first basket of the game on a three-pointer and followed it up with a 12-footer a few minutes later. After scoring five points in the game’s first three minutes, however, he would score just seven more the remainder of the game, including zero in the game’s second half. He finished with 12 points on just 5-for-18 shooting from the field.

Ironically, Russell Westbrook had his most efficient shooting night in quite some time, converting on nine of his 18 shots en route to a 25-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist line. Paul George contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Knicks shot a blistering 14-for-23 from beyond the three-point line.

They were fired up, played with passion and wanted to win. The Thunder, unfortunately, couldn’t match their energy. To the team’s credit, they hung around, closing what was a double-digit second half deficit to within six in the game’s waning minutes. They couldn’t get over the hump though, and the Knicks ran away with the game late.

With the loss, the team ends their three-game road trip 2-1 and will return to Oklahoma City at 14-15.

Thanks for signing up!

Moke Hamilton

Moke Hamilton is a writer and columnist for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NBA Wire. Based in New York City, Moke has covered the NBA for seven seasons, previously working for Turner Sports and NBC Universal. He can be heard from time to time on the airwaves of 98.7FM ESPN New York.